Changes to how Kansas City handles 911 calls to be tested, evaluated in next 2 weeks
Possible major changes to the way Kansas City handles 911 calls will undergo testing and evaluation over the next two weeks, according to a plan announced by the Mid-America Regional Council.
An analysis of the testing and information about implementing the changes is scheduled to be completed by mid-July. Ultimately, the decision on whether to implement the changes as well as how the city’s emergency call centers will answer and dispatch calls will be made by Kansas City, according to the agency, which is also known as MARC.
Kansas City is looking at a change to the way emergency calls are handled as a way to address the problem of growing wait times for people who dial 911.
At a meeting earlier this week, the Board of Police Commissioners directed the Kansas City Police Department to call for an emergency meeting with MARC’s Public Safety Communications Board to discuss switching to an automated call attendant that would prompt callers to press a number to be routed to police, fire, medical and non-emergency calls.
“For too long, Kansas Citians calling 911 have experienced unacceptable wait times connecting to call takers, threatening health and safety,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Twitter Tuesday.
The hope is that this would route calls to the proper agency without callers having to wait on hold for a call taker.
MARC serves as the coordinating agency for Kansas City’s regional 911 system. It owns the equipment that allows a 911 call to get to the appropriate agency based on the location where the call originated.
The police department is the primary agency handling 911 calls in Kansas City. Currently, its call takers ask callers if they have a police, fire, or medical emergency and then route the call to proper agency. Officials hope that the change being proposed would streamline and route calls to the appropriate agency through the auto-attendant.
The time people spent on hold waiting for a 911 call taker has been a growing problem. The average hold times for 911 are now 60 seconds, according to the latest data presented to the board of commissioners on Tuesday.
The system being used by MARC currently has the capability to automate the calls this way, but it has to be activated, acting Deputy Chief Gregory Williams told the board of commissioners.
The board didn’t want to wait any longer and directed Williams to “get an emergency meeting and get this done now.”
Emergency meeting
In response, MARC and the Public Safety Communications Board leadership released on Thursday a plan to enable the change to the 911 system.
Because of the complexity of the regional 911 system and the critical service it provides, any changes to the system must be evaluated and tested, MARC said in a news release. The testing is expected to take two weeks.
The agency will then prepare an analysis and provide information regarding implementing the auto-attendant feature for Kansas city at the Public Safety Communications Users Committee scheduled for 1 p.m. July 12. At that meeting, the committee will make a recommendation regarding the implementation of the feature.
The Public Safety Communications Board will then act upon any of the committee’s recommendations at a special meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. July 13, which is expected to be the only item on the agenda.
The board is responsible for executive level policy guidance and oversight of the regional 911 system and has authority to implement changes to allow the auto-attendant feature.
The decision to implement the feature and policies relating to how the city’s emergency call centers answer and dispatch calls will be made by Kansas City, MARC said.
